Saving Mar

03 TRICK

"And that is?" T'Pol raised her eyebrows. The tricorder in her hand was beeping erratically, alarms warning them of imminent danger going off one after another.

"We can't fire, but we still have a few missiles left. Telvora will have to make a run at them in an escape pod with a cloaked head inside."

Jon frowned. "Why would you sacrifice someone for this if you have cloaking?"

Mar's eyes trained on his, color drained from her face. "She's the cloaking, Captain."

When she collected bewildered gazes from all the Starfleet officers, she explained:

"We weren't all sex slaves, our gifts vary. We were used for all kinds of purposes and hers was stealth assassinations."

A tiny woman with dark stripes over her face approached them and spoke up.

"Let's get to it, then."

Her tone was even and determined, while Mar's face softened for the first time since they'd met. Jon could see the pain in her eyes, pain he knew well himself.

She was about to pay for their safety with a life she vowed to protect.

"Thank you. I'm proud of you," she croaked and hugged Telvora.

Another ground shattering hit reminded them not to waste any more time. The ex-assassin headed for engineering, where her comrades would load one of the escape pods with a missile and launch it at the enemy ship. Mar, in the meanwhile, hailed the Orions again.

"Alright, alright, boys, let's all calm down," she yelled into the com as soon as they answered. "We'd like to keep our heads if you don't mind. We'll need a couple of minutes to get our transporter working, but we're ready to come aboard, okay? Just stop firing, or you'll have to scavenge our skulls from the wreckage."

"Smart move," the male voice purred. "You have five minutes. If you're not ready by then, we'll be coming over for you personally. We don't have all day."

"This needs to be timed flawlessly," Malcolm said when the coms were cut. "If they drop their shields too soon, they'll get suspicious when no one starts beaming over. If they drop them too late, the missile in the pod will only scratch them."

"I know," Mar nodded quietly, hands hovering above the buttons.

Standing around, feeling useless while watching someone give up their life for them, they awaited the moment to signal the Orions to drop their shields. Jon studied Mar's face; her expression was hard, determined, yet tears silently streamed down her cheeks.

The maneuver was successful. Telvora delivered the missile without the Orions suspecting anything, and once their shields were down, Jon could see the impact of the pod into one of the weak structural points of the enemy ship. The monstrous vessel shook and trembled and the Enterprise used their momentary disorientation to land a few blows of its own. Before the Orions were able to restore some shields, their ship was unable to defend itself.

"Cease fire," Jon hummed into his com. Mar shot him a baffled look.

"Destroy them, Captain Archer," she said. "Or they'll come for your heads next time."

"We're not the jury, judge and executioner out here, Duchess," he shook his head grimly. "It's not how we do things in the Federation."

The Orions managed to hot-wire their warp drive and before Jon finished his sentence, they powered up and disappeared. Mar threw her arms into the air in a "there we go" gesture.

"Then I hope we're very far away from you by the time these doofuses decide to pay you a visit," she growled and turned away from Jon. "We're grateful for your assistance, but I think it's time for you to leave now. Your shuttle is still safely docked, it doesn't seem to be damaged."

"This vessel is completely crippled," T'Pol reminded her. "By the time you can repair the critical systems, someone else might find you here, free for the taking. I advise you to leave with us. We can tow what's left of this ship to the nearest station."

"We're not going anywhere with you."

Mar stood up, which didn't give her much more height, and folded her arms across her lace-covered chest. There was no hesitation in her voice. Jon gave her an exasperated look.

"Why the hell not?"

"We don't know you, we can't put our lives in your hands and just trust you to not betray us."

Sevon approached her commander and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mar, they're not wrong, this ship won't be going anywhere for days and even then we'll be limping," she said urgently. "The Orions will regroup and double back, you know they won't just let this go. We can't stay."

Mar's eyelashes fluttered as her resolve wavered. Her gaze found Jon's eyes, as if she was searching for early signs of betrayal. In that moment, he could finally see the reason behind her stubbornness: she was scared.

"I don't want to go," she said quietly, but her voice still reached him. "It's not safe."

"I've heard only good things about this Federation, this Starfleet," Sevon pressed further. "They're not slavers – and these guys seem like good people. I say we risk it. It's our best option right now. Telvora's just given up her life to save ours. Her sacrifice will mean nothing if we die here."

"There are worse things than death, Sevon," Mar almost whispered. "You know that better than anyone."

Sevon sighed and brushed a strand of hair away from Mar's face. Eyes quickly darting towards their Starfleet guests, she led her into a corner for a private chat. Jon couldn't tear his eyes away from them, so while his away team tried to make themselves useful around the bridge, he watched the two women whisper.

He understood why an ex-slave would be slow to trust. For some reason, though, he wished she would trust him.

Sevon's arguments must have been enough to persuade her. Mar's expression was back to being self-assured. She clapped her hands loudly and activated the com pad to reach people all around the ship.

"Okay, girls, let's go. Captain Archer offered us a ride, so we'll be enjoying the Enterprise's hospitality for a little while, before we arrive at a station where we can get this barge fixed up. Pack up your stuff," she added sarcastically, since they obviously only had what they were wearing at the moment of their purchase, perhaps with an extra handbag for necessities.

Jon knew nothing he could say would help prove that they weren't going to kill or enslave them, so he kept his mouth shut and just watched the women slowly stream to the shuttle. Once it was full, it undocked and the rest of them were beamed directly onto the Enterprise in groups of four.